Helen and I do a special Mother’s Day vlog in response to a viewer request about our decision to become parents. What made me finally break down and decide to have a child? Why did we choose the method we did? Was our cat really involved in the selection of our sperm donor? And what was that about dating Ellen DeGeneres and Sharon Stone?

In many ways, this vlog is a precursor to the post I did about the medical and legal details of creating our family. Now you’ll know the whole story.

We also invite all bloggers and vloggers to post on June 2 in celebration of the third annual Blogging for LGBT Families Day. (Yes, videos and photos are welcome, too. Put them on your favorite image-sharing site, make sure they’re public, and send me the link.)

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In the vlog this week, I discuss two new memoirs about the journey to single motherhood, including the cynical and funny My Miserable, Lonely, Lesbian Pregnancy and Choosing You, (both of which I reviewed at length in text a few days ago—see links). I’m vlogging without Helen this week, but instead I have a very special guest: my mom.

Hear what a grandmother has to say about the differences between being a parent and being a grandparent, what she first thought when she found out her lesbian daughter was becoming a mother, and how she talks about our family with friends and colleagues.

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Helen and I discuss why people always want to know what children of two moms call their parents, why even Cynthia Nixon can’t escape the question, and why we shouldn’t get so hung up on the issue. We also have fun with two classic board games and tell you why our son isn’t a genius just because he plays them (though we’re not ruling it out).

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This week, Helen and I remind viewers of the long-lost parenting storyline on Jackie Warner’s Work Out. We also commemorate tax week with a rant on our own filings, and on a more positive note, discuss various approaches to children’s allowances and why we don’t have any answers.

Plus: What were those weird pipes in our living room that you may have glimpsed in last week’s vlog? (Long-time readers may recognize them as the Musical Pipes we made last year, and which reader Erin reproduced with great success.)

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Helen and I did not go to the Dinah Shore weekend this year, but we recreate the event (minus the lesbian pool parties) with a homemade mini-golf tournament in our living room. Yes, it’s harder to take off for events like the Dinah when you have kids, but there’s no excuse not to travel with your young ones. In between holes, we offer some tips for doing so.

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This week, I’m pleased to brings you a special interview with Sarah Brannen, author and illustrator of the new LGBT-inclusive children’s book Uncle Bobby’s Wedding. (Helen is taking a break from vlogging this week, though she’s busy with her real job, advancing the frontiers of technology.) Brannen discusses the process of creating the book, shows us some early sketches of the characters, and talks about the skull fracture that nearly waylaid publication. She also shares pictures and ideas from some books she’s working on now, including one featuring a two-mom family.

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Helen and I urge viewers to submit names of LGBT moms for the “America’s Favorite Mom” contest, and share an easy kids’ activity that could keep you from spending $25 in a toy store. Helen then gets on her soapbox telling politicians a few “things your mama should have taught you.” Plus pirates, matzo meal, and another sneak appearance by our cat. (See if you can spot him this time.)

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This week, Helen and I show you why parenting is as much fun as a barrel of monkeys, literally. We congratulate a pair of lesbian moms for their prodigious fallopian feats, commend Kenneth Cole for recognizing lesbian moms, and turn a parent’s eye to the last two episodes of The L Word. (Imagine Bette trying to assemble a porta-crib in her tent.)

(Yes, a couple of stories overlap for regular Mombian readers, but we thought we’d entertain the viewers at After Ellen with some of the news. Also, the aforementioned cold plaguing our household sapped our creativity a bit this week. We’ll bring sparkling fresh stuff to next week’s vlog.)

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Helen and I blind you with science this week as we demonstrate a bunch of experiments and explorations for kids. Watch us use marshmallows, blue gooey stuff, really long words to describe peanut butter, and gummi bears like you’ve never seen them before (including one variation just for adults). We also point out the very lesbianish cartoon mom in a popular book of kids’ science projects. Whether you’re a parent or a cool aunt or godparent, you’ll want a few of these in your repertoire. Plus: An honor for Lesléa Newman, author of Heather Has Two Mommies, and a sneak appearance by our cat.

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Could Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, a children’s tale about two gay guinea pigs, become one of the most controversial books of the year? At least it would give the penguins a break, Helen and I conclude in our vlog this week. After some guinea pig-hamster confusion, we then move ahead in age range and recommend a book about transgender teens that should be of interest to parents and non-parents alike. We also respond to viewer comments that we seem like a “normal” couple, and ask “What is normal, and what does that have to do with parenting, anyway?”

Finally, we share the world premiere of the new trailer for Dottie’s Magic Pockets, a video for young children of LGBT families and their friends, and pass along a special Dottie discount to viewers. (Hint: If you purchase the Dottie video or t-shirts from their site between now and April 5, 2008, and use the coupon code “MOMBIAN”, you’ll get 20% off your entire order; limit one per shipping address. Note that we’re not getting any fee or commission from these sales, although Dottie’s production company has advertised on Mombian.)

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If the Veoh video above isn’t working (sometimes their server can be flaky), you can try it at Daily Motion, though the picture quality isn’t as good there.

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